Red flags fly again at Exmouth Beach

Red flags will once again be raised at Exmouth beach following an ongoing pollution incident caused by a sewage leak at Maer Lane.

East Devon District Council took to Facebook this morning with an update: “Following the issuing of Pollution Incident Reporting Tool (PIRT) by the Environment Agency in the early hours of Monday, the lifeguards will shortly be raising red flags on Exmouth beach. 

“Officers from East Devon District Council will also be displaying no swimming signs. 

Though temporary pipework was installed to repair the leak, on Friday, August 30, South West Water released a statement reporting an additional spill: “This afternoon we unfortunately had a small spill from the temporary tank feeding the overland pipeline, used to avoid tankers, at the site we are working on in Exmouth. 

“This pipe has been put in place to transfer flows; it is not a new burst on the main. Although this was very small, we are incredibly sorry that this happened.

"Unfortunately, this was due to a one-off human error, and we have already put new processes in place to make sure this doesn't happen again. 

“Our teams continue to work around the clock in Exmouth, and we fully understand the disruption this is causing.”

The Environment Agency briefly lifted its advice against bathing at 2:05pm on Saturday, August 31, before reinstating swimming warnings this morning.

Pollution Risk Forecast alerts have now also been issued for Budleigh Salterton and Seaton. 

In a video posted on South West Water’s Youtube channel, Helen Dobby, Head of Environmental Performance, said: “We would like to reassure everyone that we are working 24 hours a day with a team of over 100 people working on a shift pattern to make sure that the repair is not only fixed quickly but is resilient for the future.

“This is a huge piece of really complex engineering that has been happening over the last two weeks. We’re making really good progress. The team has put in some of the permanent pipework, and we also have temporary pipework that allows us to use a sort of bypass system that helps the system operate exactly as normal while we carry out the permanent repair.”

You can stay up to date with the situation via East Devon District Council’s social media or on South West Water’s website.